A content menu works like a book index (Zellweger, 9/1997) using a list of lists to organize content details in an information system. Unlike prior menu systems that employ mutually exclusive pathways, the content menu allows multiple paths to reach the same information object. This feature is distinctive to the content menu and its underlying menu structure, the open hierarchical data structure (Zellweger, May. 13, 1997 U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,125), and enables it to support unlimited cross referencing capabilities. As a retrieval technology, the content menu is an extremely appealing alternative to other methodologies, such as searches and database queries, because it enables end-users to see content details and pinpoint information they need.
However, building networks of paths in an open hierarchical data structure is tedious and very time consuming. Zellweger (09/033,764) discloses the software means to generate menu data from external sources but the technology is languagebased and not particularly easy to master. In addition, in an information rich setting, like a database management system, managing the environmental details of the disclosed command language is cumbersome. The present invention discloses a graphical user interface that enables a developer to coordinate various data sources and to generate commands that are consistent with the software routines that generate menu data.
Prior interface means, such as Maloney et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,453), coordinate various data sources in a database to establish a schema that provides end-user access to database content. Banning (U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,613) also discloses an interface means to generate SQL commands to a database to retrieve specific content. However, both of these interface means are tied directly to the logical links of the underlying database structure, and neither is intended to support data sources outside the database.